Wednesday, February 17, 2010

No Pancake Photos

It was Pancake Day (Shrove Tuesday) yesterday.  Even though our family really didn't observe Lent in any formal way, we did take part in the Pancake Day tradition.  As kids, we were just over-the-moon excited to be able to have pancakes for supper.  What could be better than pancakes for supper?! 

My mother used to wrap nickels, quarters, dimes and pennies in tin foil and put them in the pancake batter.  We would search for the wrapped pieces in our pancakes, always hoping for the 'big' ones (knowing they'd be quarters)!  I haven't continued with that part of the tradition with our pancake day.  Probably because I know I'd still want to wash the money before wrapping it, and I'd want to wash it a lot... and that's all more work than I want to have right now.  Yet, now that our girls know about mom's and dad's 'money-in-the-pancake' tradition growing up, they might soon be expecting the same.  Nope, I'm holding my ground on this one!

Anyway, last night was indeed pancakes for supper, but good heavens, I made a royal botch of it!  I don't know what went wrong.  I wasn't really minding exact measurements when mixing the batter, and then one of the girls also mixed the batter, and by the time the ladle hit the skillet, those lil' cakes were in trouble.  The result was a bunch of flat and sticky pancakes.  I managed to salvage the 2nd half of the batch, and also had some veg burgers and home fries in the oven, so supper wasn't a total wash.  But, it was mighty frustrating!  And, rather stressful since the baby was also hungry, and the eldest needed to eat and get out to a power skating session. The girls didn't mind. They still scarfed down the lot, saying "mom, the sticky pancakes are still pretty good".  Yeah, I guess if doused with maple syrup, ha! Lesson learned: With baking, it's not wise to 'wing it' (unless of course I'm immersed in recipe testing, and even then I map out a formula). 

So, no, I don't have any pictures to share from our pancake night.  Instead, I thought I'd show you this one.  Kamut spaghetti in a Gluten-Free White Sauce (new recipe), topped off with some roasted marinated cremini mushrooms.  This white sauce is rather easy to make, and doesn't use earth balance.  Not because I'm 'anti-EB' (we quite love the stuff for breads, potatoes, toast, etc), but because I often want to give you the option of not using it in a recipe, in case you have food allergies, or just don't want to use a more processed product.

Did you observe pancake day?  If so, I hope yours were a delicious, fluffy success!
There are virtually no nutrients in animal-based foods that are not better provided by plants.  "Principle #3", The China Study.

8 comments:

Domestic Dharma said...

I bet the new white sauce is amazing, that plate of pasta looks sooo good! Loving your quotes from The China Study.

Anonymous said...

sorry about the pancakes, dreena! i thought you messing up pancakes was an impossibility, given how many delicious ones are in your book! i guess it makes me feel better that it's okay to mess up sometimes!

Everyday Superhero said...

That pasta looks delish. I would choose that over pancakes any day.

We did eat pancakes. The Pea's school hosted a pancake supper as part of a fundraiser.

Unknown said...

On behalf of those of us who ARE anti-EB, thanks for making recipes that don't call for it.

Bookphilia said...

When I was a kid, my baby-sitter used to put money in our pancakes for Shrove Tuesday as well...but she didn't even wrap it in tinfoil! It was just a bunch of change, dumped straight into the batter! I find this rather icky now but you know, we rarely got sick for our anti-anti-bacterial lifestyle...

Also, do you think this whole money in the pancakes is a down east thing? You and I know it but others I've spoken with, who weren't raised in the Atlantic provinces, look at me quite strangely when I mention the money in the pancake event...

CrazyVeganMom said...

I have never actually heard of Pancake Day, but every few weeks I make pancakes for dinner. My very picky daughter looks forward to this every time!

Dreena said...

thanks everyone.

Colleen, maybe it is more of an east coast tradition. I can joke with others from NL about the money in the pancakes business, but I haven't heard of folks in this area doing the same. In fact, the whole pancake day tradition doesn't seem as known/followed on the west coast. I'm cringing about the thought of unwashed money in your pancakes... but, talking with others, I don't think this was uncommon. ugh. Don't get me started on how filthy money can be, but yeah, we never walked around with antibacterial gel in those days!

Hannah.KamutInternational said...

Greetings from Montana!

Love the KAMUT Spaghetti. The white sauce topped with the mushrooms looks absolutely mouth watering. I represent Kamut International, and we are always looking for new recipes. We would love to hear about any other recipes from your cookbook. Come find us on Twitter. www.twitter.com/kamutwheat